1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a protective cover sheet for isolation of the body of a patient from a support surface provided by an examination table, a hospital bed or a portable gurney, and to a method of manufacturing such cover sheet.
2. Summary of the Prior Art
Every medical doctor's office has an examining table of elongated, generally rectangular configuration upon which successive patients generally end up in a reclining position. In the same manner, hospitals and emergency vehicles are equipped with portable gurneys on which an injured or a seriously ill patient is supported for transport. Hospital beds require frequent changes of the bottom sheet. In all such cases, it is highly desirable that the patient supporting surface of the bed, examining table or the gurney, as the case may be, be protected from contact with patient bodily fluids by a cover sheet. In many cases, and particularly in doctor's offices, the cover sheet is an ordinary sheet of paper. In hospitals, the cover sheet may be formed of cloth and hence must be washed and sterilized for reuse. Similar problems may be encountered in the home due to incontinence or diarrhea.
In any case, the existence of an economical, disposable, biodegradable cover sheet that is fitted to the patient supporting surface so as to overlie all of the surface and the adjoining edges, is lacking. Moreover, in many cases, the cover sheet is highly permeable to body fluids, resulting in contamination of the patient supporting surface of the bed, examining table or gurney, requiring cleaning and sterilization of such surface.
A problem is also encountered, particularly in emergency vehicles and hospitals, in transferring the body of an injured or a seriously ill patient from the gurney to a hospital bed or operating table. With the current Aids epidemic, the personnel handling the patient are at risk by contact with the patient's bodily fluids if they physically grasp the patient. It would be highly desirable that the cover sheet be fabricated of such material as to not only be highly impermeable to body fluids but also to have sufficient tensile strength to permit the body of the patient to be lifted and moved simply by grasping the edges of the cover sheet. Lastly, the cover sheet should fit snugly on the patient supporting surface and should be disposable and biodegradable.
A cover sheet having these properties is not believed to have heretofore been disclosed in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 3,956,782 discusses the disadvantages of muslin sheets, but discloses a plastic cover sheet having pockets extending along each longitudinal edge that cannot be snugly fitted around the transverse ends of the patient support surface.